Brushing and scrubbing machine



Feb. 24, 1959 A. H. SMITH 2,874,396

BRUSHING AND SCRUBBING MACHINE Filed July 19, 1952 b M 2 iii .X aro n 7657726570 396 BRUSHING AND soRUBBINo Aaron IhSmith, Lynn, Mass assignor,to Signal Manug i y n M s a rpor t o nt Lassac use s Application July19,1952, Serial Nu. 299,789

1 Claim. (or. 15-42 o This invention relates to aPParatusfor brushingand scrubbing and more especially to improved apparatus of the foregoingkind for operating on door coverings such as rugs to remove the dirtembedded in the pile and thus to restore it to its natural luster.

Recently, certain cleaning compounds have been developedwhich ifscrubbed into the pile of a rug and then brushed out serve to remove theembedded dirt and hence to restore the rug to its original brilliance.The use of such material both inliquid and powder form has up until nowbeen effected manually, that is a hand brush was employed to scrub thecompound into' the pile and to remove it therefrom. This is a tiresome,slow-"and uneconomical process. Resort was therefore made to powerdriven brushes end a conventional "wax'applying and polishing machinewas tried. Such machines have one or more motor driven bru'shesmounted'f0r rotation about vertieal axes on a supporting frame whichitself has two or, more wheels to permit -free'm'o'v'eine'n't over thesurface to be operated on. The operating surfaces ofthe brushes arepressed against the surface being operat d u on, by h h of, th c i a isome instances by spring pressure. Because of the rapid "rotation of thebrushes the pressure of the brushes you .the pile andthe high frictionalresistance to rotation produced by the pile such machines behaved badly,that is they dug into the pile, jumped and gyrated-over its Surface andwere generally unmanageable in addition to not operating effectively-toclean the carpet.

T he principal object of thisv invention 'is to modify the constructionand operation ofa single or double brush, power operated polishingmachine such as referred to above in such manner asfto' adapt; it toscr'ubbing a cleaning compound into the pile surfaee of arug'andremoving it' therefrom along with the extraneous dirt without injuringthe. rug or causing undue wear of the pile. A further object is toprovide'a machine of the foregoing kind which will be manageable inu'se-an'd will not tend to run away, that is to getout hand and 'gyra'teinto the wall and/orfurniture nor dig into the surface of the pile so asto shear the pile from its base or otherwise injure, damage or mar thesurface of the rug. A further object of the invention is to provide amachine in which uniform working pressure is automatically efiec'tedi Astill further object is to provide a special brush which may besubstituted for the conventional brush, easily and without special toolsor alternately a special coupling for attaching a conventional brush insuch a 'manner as toprovide the same advantages.

In accordance with the foregolfig, the machine which for a the purposeofillustrating the inventionwill be described as equipped with doublebrushes is raised at a predetermined distance from the floor by a dollyconsisting of auxiliary wheels mounted on a frame'which in turn isfastened'to the frameof the machine so that the; we ght of the machineis borne by the dolly andso that the working-surfaces of the brushes donot press deepl y into the pile, preferably being held to a penetrationof about 2,874,396 1 atented Eeb- 24, 1.9.5.9

2 three-eighths of'an inch. In addition to being supported apredetermined distance above the base the brushes are mounted on theirdrive shafts so that they are free'to move vertically, that is fromtheir lowermost point. of three-eighths inch penetration to a pointclear of the upper surface of the rug, their vertical movement beingapproximately one-half inch. This free floating of the brushes maintainsa uniform working pressure, on the pile regardless .of its height thuspreventing the bristles from digging into the surface of the pileand iseffected by couplings consisting of concentrically arranged elementsmade fast respectively to the brush shaft and. to the brush. Theelements are movable relative to each other axially that is, parallel tothe axisof the shaft but, are prevented from rotation relative to eachother by interengagement of parts carried thereby. The brush blockcontains the elements, that, is the block has a central hole of largeenough diameter to receive and contain wholly within it the aforesaidconcentrically arranged elements.

The invention will now be described in greater detail} with referencetofthe accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is an isometric view illustrating a two-brush; machine supportedon a dolly;

Fig. 2 is a diametrical vertical section through a brush block showingthe preferred form of the coupling con-v tained within the brush block;and

,Fig. 3 is a diametrical vertical section for abrush block showing analternative construction of the preferred form.

Referring to the drawinggfig. 1 shows; a two-brush machine 10 whichconsists of a housing 12 'on which there is mounted am otor M andbrushes 141-14. Suitable gearing and shafts, not shown. are containedwithin the housing 12 and areldrivenby the motor M to effect rotation ofthe b ru shes 1'4;14 in, Opposite, directions. The o n ha at Opp s e endt nni pins 16.-1 on y one of which is shown on which are jour'naled ahandle, y wh hema in s. mo ed bo jin us A two brush machine of thekindbriefily outline above. makes a very effective waxing and polishingmachine for floors and floor coverings which have a smooth surface andfor further and more detailed description thereof reference may be hadto Patent No. 2,748,408.

Recently, cleaning compounds have been developed in both liquid andpowde form which if worked into the surface of a rug so as to penetratethe pile and then brushed out will remove the extraneous matterembeddedat the base of the pile and restore the rug to its original brilliancy.Such compounds have heretofore been worked in manually, that is with theuse of a brush and caused alternately to jump over the surface andthendig into it in a very unsatisfactory and unmanageable way. Thiscondition was aggravated bythicker and deeper piles. in'accor'dance withthe present invention the machine is supported on an auxiliary carriageor dolly so that the weight of the machine is borne by the carriagerather. than by the operating surfaces of the brushes. The car-H riageis designed to support the brushes with their operatingor workingsurfaces at a predetermined distance abovethe base of the :rug, thatis'so that: the :zb'rusht.

To eliminate the foregoing difficulties and 3 bristles are limited intheir penetration into the pile. Since the brushes cannot dig into thepile the frictional engagement of the rotating surfaces of the brusheswith the pile will be uniform and thus anytendency' alternately to jumpand then dig into the surface of the pile will be eliminated.

The supporting dolly as shown in Fig. 1 consists of a forwardly andrearwardly extending stiff strap 20, for example a strip of sheet metalwhich is fastened to the underside of the housing 12 so as to liebetween the brushes. A horizontal transversely extending bar 22 isfastened to the rear end of the strap 20, for example by welding and hasat its opposite ends axles 24 on which are mounted wheels 26. Theforward end of the strap 20 is bent upwardly as at 28 and has fastenedto its lower side a strap 30, the free end of which is spaced from thepart 28 and between these spaced end portions there is mounted a bearingsleeve 32. A caster 34 having a pivot pin 36 fast thereto is thrustthrough the bearing 32 and made rotatably secure therein by suitablemeans thus pivotally to support the forward end of the carriage. As thusconstructed the operator may by pushing on the handle 18 move themachine over the surface of the rug uniformly. While a three-wheeleddolly is here illustrated it is within the scope of the invention to usea four-wheeled dolly if desired, that is the caster may be replaced by asecond bar corresponding to the bar 22 and a pair of wheelscorresponding to the wheels 24. The supporting dolly whether of thethree-wheeled type or of the four-wheeled construction will support themachine so that brushes are held at a predetermined distance above thebase of the rug and hence it is impossible for them to dig into thepile. Thus, use of the dolly partially solves the problem of making. themachine useful for cleaning rugs. A certain freedom of movement of thebrushes on their shafts vertically with respect to the surface of therug, is also desirable automatically to maintain a uniform pressure onthe pile regardless of its depth. This is attained by permitting thebrushes to rise and fall to conform to the height of the pile as theyoperate on the surface so as to maintain the same weight or workingpressure at all times. The brushes are limited in their verticalmovement to a lowermost position controlled by the dolly and movablefrom that position through about one-half inch vertically on theirshafts. Only the weight. of the brushes operate on the pile, no springpressure being employed. As thus mounted their action is uniform andelfective without being harsh thereby eliminating wear. To this end asillustrated in Fig. 2, each brush is provided with a special couplingfor making it fast to its drive shaft so that it has a limited amount ofvertical movement preferably approximately one-half inch. Each brush 14consists of a rigid brush block 38 made of wood or some equivalentmaterial which has a central circular opening 40 and at one side anannular body of bristles 42 concentric with the circular opening.Arranged within the circular opening 40 is a coupling comprised ofconcentrically arranged elements 43 and 44 which are free to moverelative to each other along an axis coinciding with their centers andwith the center of the hole 40 which is the axis of rotation of thebrush with its drive shaft. The concentric elements have cylindrical,substantially vertically arranged walls 46 and 48. The wall 48 is ofsomewhat smaller diameter than the wall 46 and telescopes within it.Each of the elements has extending from the lower end of its cylindricalwall an annular flange 50, 52 respectively, the

flanges being horizontal and vertically spaced with respect to eachother. The annular flange 50 has in it one or more vertically arrangedholes 54 and the annular flange 52 has fast to it a corresponding numberof pins 56 which extend upwardly through the holes 54 thus locking theelements togetherso that rotation imparted to one will be transmitted tothe other without inhibiting relative movement of the elements alongtheir axis of rotation. At the outer extremity of the annular flange 50there is a cylindrical wall 58 concentric with the wall 46, of suchdiameter as to fit closely against the inside surface of the hole 40. Atthe upper end of the wall 58 there is a second annular flange 60 whichoverlies and has contact with the block 38, marginally of the opening40. The element 43 is made fast to the block 38 by screws 62 passedthrough the flange 60 and screwed into the wood of the block. Theelement 44 has at the upper end of its wall 48 an inwardly directedflange 64 which provides a circular opening 66 within which is seated ahub 68 having a sleeve-like body 70 and an attaching flange 72 at oneend. The attaching flange 72 is made fast to the flange 64 by one ormore screws 74 and the hub has in it a central opening 75 concentricwith the axis of the center of the brush for reception of the driveshaft S. Preferably, the drive shaft and the hole 75 are multisided sothat when the hub is engaged with the shaft it will be non-rotatablylocked thereon for rotation with the shaft although it is to beunderstood that a cylindrical hole and shaft could be employed with aspline. To hold the brush on the shaft that is to prevent it fromdropping off at the lower end, a latch 78 is pivotally fastened to theflange 52 by a rivet 80, the latch having a thumb tab 82 by which it maybe grasped and moved to bring an edge of it which is cut away intoengagement with an annular groove in the lower end of the shaft.

As thus constructed it is clear that the elements 43 and 44 may moverelative to each other axially through a distance a as represented onFig. 1 which is approximately one-half inch so that as the brush isoperating on the rug it floats, adjusting itself to a height whichcorresponds with its weight and the resistance of the pile topenetration. Vertical movement of the brush is limited at its lowermostpoint by contact of the flange 50 with the flange 52 and at its upwardpoint by contact of the upper edge 76 of the wall 46 with the undersideof the flange 72.

An alternative constructed coupling for effecting the same results isillustrated in Fig. 3. As there illustrated the brush consists of abrush block 38 having a central hole 40 and an annular body of bristles42. The coupling which is contained Within the central hole 40 comprisesconcentrically arranged elements and 92, each of which has a cylindricalwall 94 and 96 respectively, the wall 94 being of such diameter as toslidably fit within the wall 96. Each element has formed at the lowerend of its wall a horizontal annular flange 98 and 100 respectively, theflanges being so located that they are vertically spaced and parallel.The annular flange 98 has in it one or more vertical openings 102 andthe flange 100 has fast thereto a corresponding number of pins 104, theupper ends of which project through the openings 102. The pins 104 mayhave at their upper ends grooves or holes for receiving locking rings orpins (not shown) for a purpose which will appear hereinafter. As thusconstructed the elements 90 and 92 are compelled to rotate in unisonupon imparting rotational movement to one of them but may move relativeto each other along an axis coinciding with the center of rotation ofthe brush. The wall 96 of the element 92 is of such diameter as to fitagainst the inside wall of the hole 40 and has at its upper end anoutwardly extending annular flange 106 for contact with the surface ofthe brush block marginally of the hole 40. The element 92 is made fastto the brush block by one or more screws 108, inserted through theflange 106 into the body of the block. The element 90 has at the innerextremity of its flange 98 an upstanding cylindrical wall 110 from theupper extremity of which projects inwardly an annular flange 112 therebyproviding a circular opening 114 and within this opening there is seateda hub germane 115. The hub 115 has a body 116 and a flange 118 at oneend which overlies the annular flange 112 and is made fast thereto byscrews 120. A central hole 122 is formed in the body of the hub of suchshape as to receive the drive shaft S and preferably is multisided as isthe drive shaft so as to avoid the use of a spline or key. A latch suchas shown in Fig. 1 may be attached to the lower end of the hub so as tohold the brush on the end of the shaft and since it would be identicalwith that shown in Fig. 1 is not described herein again with referenceto the modified brush.

As thus constructed the brush will rotate with the drive shaft and atthe same time will be permitted to float vertically on the drive shaftthrough a distance I: of approximately one-half inch. The uppermostmovement of the brush is limited by contact of the flange 100 with theflange 98 and the lowermost movement is limited by engagement of thelocking ring or pin at the upper end of the pins 104 with the flange 98.

While as illustrated in Fig. l the machine is supported by an auxiliarycarriage or dolly so as to hold the operating surfaces of the brushes ata predetermined distance from the surface to be operated upon and Whilethis is the most convenient way of adapting a waxing machine to theforegoing use, it is to be understood that any suitable means may beemployed for supporting the ordinary waxing machine with its brushes ata fixed distance above the surface to be operated upon. For example, itis contemplated to be within the scope of the present invention thatinstead of using an auxiliary carriage or dolly, the frame of the waxingmachine itself may have mounted thereon wheels for supporting it atthree or more points and means for adjusting the wheels on the frame soas to raise or lower the latter with respect to the surface to beoperated upon. This may effectively be accomplished by mounting thewheels on bearings, the latter being made fast to the frame so as to bevertically adjustable thereon and so as to be fixed at any predeterminedadjustment thus to hold the frame and hence the brushes at apredetermined distance above the surface to be operated upon.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is forthe purpose ofillustration only and that this invention includes all modifications andequivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A multi-purpose machine for polishing and scrubbing floor coveringswithout and with pile surfaces, comprising the combination with amachine mounting a motor, and

a pair of vertically disposed, spaced parallel shafts for rotationthereby, a pair of brushes mounted on the shafts, each of said brushescontaining a centrally located hole through which one of said shaftsextends, and a coupling situated in each of said holes about thecorresponding shaft, removably attaching the brush to the shaft forunbiased freedom of movement vertically and for rotation with the shaftabout the vertical axis of the shaft, each coupling comprising a pair oftelescoping, concentrically arranged sleeves, circular flanges extendingradially from the sleeves in vertically spaced, parallel relation, meansnon-rotatably fastening one of the sleeves to the brush and the other tothe shaft, one of said flanges containing a hole disposed eccentricallyof the shaft axis, a driving pin fast to the other of said flanges withits axis parallel to the shaft and its opposite end engaged within thehole in said one flange, so that rotation of the sleeve fast to theshaft effects rotation of the sleeve fast to the brush withoutinterfering with axial movement of the brush on the shaft, each couplingincluding stop means limiting separation of the sleeves axially to apredetermined amount, and a latch carried by the other of the sleevesengageable with the shaft to retain the brush at the lower end thereofand disengageable from the shaft to permit removal of the brush; of anauxiliary supporting frame upon which the machine is demountablysupported with the brushes suspended above the floor when the latter areat their lowermost vertical position, and wheels on the auxiliary framesupporting the latter for movement and hence for movement of the machinerelative to the floor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

